Barker Dam Hill

Far from the Madding Crowd

3D Anaglyphs first will requirered–cyanglasses to view properly. 3D Half Side-by-Side Gallery follows, with 2D group at bottom of page.

Trek date 2013 Mar 19. Wanderers Murbachi & Bucko

Use glasses to view 3D Anaglyphs

Click to Enlarge Photos

WELL, 377 YARDS FROM THE MADDING CROWD, to be precise. Barker Dam attracts hundreds of thousands of Park visitors annually to its alien surroundings and lovely enclosed Piano Valley is a popular destination. The parking lot is often crowded. On March 19 in the year ’13, Jim Clutterbuck accompanied your web host in climbing a small 160ft rise. The hill provides a raven’s-eye view of the area. The sky that day had a slight overcast. (In the above photo of Barker Dam parking lot and the small hill beyond, the sky is clear blue. But that is because I grabbed a good shot from a later Barker Dam trip to stick here. The following picture shows the wispy cloud cover.)

Those who prefer 2D images, are cordially invited to scroll down to the 2D Gallery.

Eleven thousand foot, snow-capped Mount San Gorgonio, 40 miles away, could be seen through the haze. From our hilltop retreat, the scenery includes Lost Horse Valley, Piano Valley, Queen Valley, and Barker Dam parking lot (although the dam itself is blocked by the Wonderland and is not visible).

Northward lies the inspiring conglomeration of rocks and Monzogranite piles described in Park brochures as “Wonderland of Rocks.” My 3D camera was taking shots of the south end of this beautiful, aptly named area.

Around to the east stretches Queen Valley. Distant 3D shots will include parts of Queen Mountain, with Negro Hill and Desert Queen Mine several miles beyond. Lost Horse Valley, at its northeastern corner where Barker Dam lies, has several dense stands of Joshua Trees, some of them stately, old and mature, with many contorted branches—these can be found near “Uncle Willie’s Health Food Store” and out along Sheep Pass.

People ask, “Why do you keep referring to “raven’s-eye view” in your descriptions? Are you nuts!”

I do it for the reason that one sees ravens throughout much of JTNP. And if you don’t see them, you hear them. Pictured are a pair, man and wife, presumably, gathering an eyeful at Hidden Valley Picnic Area in December 2012. The tree-shaded picnic area is only a hop, skip and a jump from Barker Dam. The ravens are up there for one reason: scouting out leftovers from any slop-happy picnickers!

Looking down on it all from our hilltop vantage point, Bucko & I enjoyed a similarly fine experience. I recommend it for everyone who has time to go scrambling up into the rugged wilds far from the crowd—a grueling 377.57 yards as the raven flies from the parking lot, according to Google Earth’s digital measuring rod. The view will be your reward!

Easy Zigzag Climb

3D Hilltop Angles and Poses

Queen Valley & Queen Mountain ♦ View East

3D Half Side-by-Side Gallery

Visitors to this website might notice minor “ghosting” on some of the 3D Anaglyphs. Ghosting or “crosstalk” as it is known, comes about through the rendering process. The original Multiview MPO pictures are also used when I make the H-SBS images. These Half Side-by-Sides, however, when viewed on your 3D TV, avoid the ghosting. They are crisp and clear. Also, anaglyph has problems with the colors red and cyan on clothing, etc. The two colors clash with the red/cyan (blue) anaglyph glasses worn to view them. 3D TVs require the manufacturer’s special purpose glasses, usually either “active shutter” or “passive” type. Do not use red/cyan anaglyph glasses to view the H-SBS.